Parviz Shahbazov, Energy Minister for Azerbaijan, addressed the 7th International Seminar of OPEC in June 2018, stating that Azerbaijan has now become a key player in the process of stabilisation in the global oil market. The seminar, which was themed around cooperation within the petroleum industry for a sustainable future, was held in Vienna, Austria. As a keynote speaker at a session for the future of oil and the world economy, Minster Shahbazov spoke of the history of the oil industry in Azerbaijan and the rich resources of hydrocarbon in the region.
One of the current projects operating in Azerbaijan is a
joint venture between SOCAR and the London-based Nobel Upstream in
the Umid-Babek field. You can read more about this project in the PDF
attachment to this post.
Support for the Azerbaijani Government
Minister Shahbazov highlighted Azerbaijan’s oil sector and
export routes in his speech, with particular emphasis on the
Azeri-Chirag-Guneshi fields, operated by BP. These fields within the Azerbaijani
sector of the Caspian Sea have had the development period extended to reach
2050 and a new agreement has been signed. Partner companies will pay a bonus
equivalent to $3.6 billion to the Azerbaijani government. The Minister also
commented on the huge natural gas deposits in Azerbaijan and highlighted the
activities of SOCAR. The newly opened Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) brings Azerbaijan’s
gas exports to European countries and companies. Founding of OPEC
OPEC is the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
established at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, with Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Kuwait and Venezuela as founding members. Since that time, ten further
countries have joined OPEC as members – Qatar, Libya, the UAE, Algeria,
Nigeria, Ecuador, Angola, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo. Indonesia also
joined in 1962, but that membership is currently suspended. The headquarters of
OPEC were originally in Switzerland (Geneva), but were moved after the first
five years to their current home in Austria (Vienna).
OPEC Objectives
The key objective of OPEC is the unification and
coordination between member countries for all policies relating to petroleum
and petroleum products. This international cooperation helps to ensure prices
for petroleum products are stabilised and fair for the producers, returns for
investors in the industry are fair, and the supply of petroleum to other
nations is regular, efficient and economic.
Speakers at the 7th OPEC International Seminar
Speeches were heard at the 7th OPEC International
Seminar by several key players in the global oil and gas industry, along with
Azerbaijan’s Minster Shahbazov. Speakers included Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo,
Secretary General of OPEC; Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and
Industry in Qatar; Suhail Mohamad Al Mazrouei, OPEC Conference President and Minister
of Energy and Industry in the United Arab Emirates; Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Oil
Minister for Nigeria; and Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernández, the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela’s Minister of Petroleum.
The Petroleum Industry in Azerbaijan
The history of Azerbaijan is linked to the fortunes and
misfortunes of the petroleum industry. As one of the oil industry’s
birthplaces, Azerbaijan is now poised once more to become an important producer
of oil and gas on a global scale. The country’s output is approximately 29
billion cubic metres of natural gas and 138,837 cubic metres of oil per day,
according to figures from 2013. SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan
Republic, was established in September 1992 on the back of its predecessor
entities in the independent Republic of Azerbaijan and previously Azerbaijan
SSR (part of the USSR) and is currently working on the Umid-Babek project with Nobel
Upstream. BP, Total, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Equinor (formerly Statoil), Turkish
Petroleum, Lukoil, Petronas and many other international oil companies have
entered Azerbaijan’s petroleum industry post-independence from the Soviet
Union. You can find out more about Nobel Upstream in the short video attachment.
